Some days, I can't help but notice all the times singers breathe between lines during songs. Aren't people trained to not gasp for air in front of the mic like that?
it depends on if it's the end of a line--if there's a punctuation mark that allows for a breath.
also, it could be a phrasing statement. Sometimes I tune into how singers are breathing, and try to determine why they're doing it a specific way. Some singers (for some reason Kelly Clarkson is coming to mind) usually gasp during a break for breath, into the microphone--that's part of her style.
Some breathe in odd places in order to draw attention to things--in "Not the Doctor" Alanis Morrisette goes "I don't wanna be your other half I believe that one and one make *breathe* two," which gives it a kind of sycophation and makes you pay attention to what's coming next, even though there's no comma there that would normally allow for a breath.
soloists have to be more careful with their breathing than choir members. In a choir, it's more about where not to breathe--if you're carrying over a line (in a song I'm singing in Chorale now, "the doom that fate/has destined mine" carries over, despite the fact that it's the end of a line--singing follows enjambment), then it is IMPERATIVE that you not breathe. You might need to, so you just sneak it in somewhere else; it's not as big a deal to breathe in the middle of a word as it is to NOT breathe during a specific carryover.
if you're the soloist, you just have to plan really well and hope you have a large enough lung capacity.
that was probably more than you ever wanted to know on this subject.
also, it could be a phrasing statement. Sometimes I tune into how singers are breathing, and try to determine why they're doing it a specific way. Some singers (for some reason Kelly Clarkson is coming to mind) usually gasp during a break for breath, into the microphone--that's part of her style.
Some breathe in odd places in order to draw attention to things--in "Not the Doctor" Alanis Morrisette goes "I don't wanna be your other half I believe that one and one make *breathe* two," which gives it a kind of sycophation and makes you pay attention to what's coming next, even though there's no comma there that would normally allow for a breath.
soloists have to be more careful with their breathing than choir members. In a choir, it's more about where not to breathe--if you're carrying over a line (in a song I'm singing in Chorale now, "the doom that fate/has destined mine" carries over, despite the fact that it's the end of a line--singing follows enjambment), then it is IMPERATIVE that you not breathe. You might need to, so you just sneak it in somewhere else; it's not as big a deal to breathe in the middle of a word as it is to NOT breathe during a specific carryover.
if you're the soloist, you just have to plan really well and hope you have a large enough lung capacity.
that was probably more than you ever wanted to know on this subject.
:-)
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